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9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 2 of 9

Rights & Responsibilities

The Bill of Rights and citizens' duties

What your child practices

Unalienable rights, the freedoms in the Bill of Rights and later amendments, religious freedom, due process, the 14th Amendment, civil rights laws, and citizens' duties such as jury service and paying taxes.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: HS.C2.4; HS.C2.1 · the rights and responsibilities of citizens

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Declaration names unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
  2. The Bill of Rights protects freedoms, even unpopular speech, and due process.
  3. Cases shape rights: Plessy (1896) allowed segregation; New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) lets schools search with reasonable suspicion.

Example: What did New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) say school officials need to search a student? Police usually need probable cause. Schools need a lower standard. Answer: reasonable suspicion

Rights & Responsibilities in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 2 of 9 in 9th grade Social Studies, after Foundations of Democracy and before Forms of Government.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which case shows that rights can expand over time?

    • Dred Scott v. Sandford
    • Korematsu v. United States
    • Brown v. Board of Education overturning Plessy v. Ferguson
    • Plessy v. Ferguson

  2. Question 2

    Why does free speech protect unpopular ideas?

    • Unpopular ideas are illegal
    • Popular ideas rarely need protection
    • The government chooses ideas
    • Only popular ideas count

  3. Question 3

    Why can a court case decided long ago still affect you today?

    • Courts follow precedent from earlier rulings
    • Only new laws count
    • Old cases expire
    • Courts never look back

  4. Question 4

    The 19th Amendment (1920)…

    • Gave women the right to vote
    • Ended slavery
    • Banned poll taxes
    • Lowered the voting age

  5. Question 5

    Which right lets you criticize the government without being punished?

    • Freedom from quartering
    • The right to bear arms
    • The right to a jury
    • Freedom of speech

  6. Question 6

    The 14th Amendment (1868) was adopted after the Civil War to…

    • create the Senate
    • guarantee citizenship and equal protection to people who had been enslaved
    • end the income tax
    • lower the voting age

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